abc's ryan owens brings us inside the booming business of being cheap. >> reporter: they're opening their doors faster than new starbucks. >> i like it because it's cheaper. >> reporter: there are now more dollar stores in the united states than drugstores. >> since the prices are so good, it's like why not? >> you can get more stuff for cheaper. >> reporter: a $56 billion industry. >> i think we can double the size of our chain within this country. >> reporter: each pin on this map represents one family dollar store. howard levine is the ceo of that chain. >> tons of growth here. this is probably a thousand-store state. >> reporter: right now he oversees an empire of how many stores? >> right around 7,550. >> reporter: are you sensitive to the charge that you're the ceo of one of the cheap stores? cheap is bad? >> no, somebody called me cheap, i take that as a compliment. that means we're looking for value, we don't overpay for stuff. >> reporter: cheap is working. three dollar chains, family dollar, dollar general, and dollar tree are fortune 500 companies. another chain, 99 cents only,